Meditation grounds my politics

The other day, as we discussed issues of the Left like charter schools and democratic socialism in a monthly reading group I go to, a connection fired in my mind.

I decided that I want my politics to be grounded in the reason I care about politics in the first place, a desire to liberate myself and others from suffering. In Buddhism there’s a name for those who have this desire: bodhisattva. I’m a long way from really understanding the deep responsibility taking the bodhisattva vow requires, but “instead of holding our own individual territory and defending it tooth and nail, we become open to the world that we are living in,” as Chögyam Trungpa describes what taking the vow involves, resonates with me. To consider all the world’s suffering, much of it caused by arbitrary patterns of injustice, like capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy, and patriarchy, and still love the world? I can’t begin to imagine how to do that. Yet it seduces me.

Many of us that are interested in politics or practice it feel as though we must be committed in some way. But I’m exhausted by this sort of commitment, to a particular political theory or thinker or movement. I’m much more energized by a commitment to staying open and vulnerable as much as I can — which I’d bet is the tougher commitment. I want to keep learning how to listen and relate, and do less prescribing based on a handful of books I’ve read and the thousands of others I’ll never have time for. From the ground that this commitment — or maybe a better way to put it is intention — offers, the tools and skills that can be learned through reading and political discussion can emerge from a solid foundation.

And the best way I know how to open to others is to open to each and every moment. This means putting our hearts on the line and taking a leap into each moment, which really just means loving without expecting anything in return, maybe the hardest thing on Earth to do. Not loving in an attached way, as in, I like how you make me feel, so I need you — that grasping sort of love that only leads to deeper suffering. Love as in giving the moment and others our full attention. And meditation is the best practice I’ve found for opening in this way.

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This post first appeared on my blog, futuredebris.com.